John 15:26,27 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
We Believe, Therefore We Speak
What in the world happened to those disciples? Only 50 days ago they were huddled behind locked doors, trembling and afraid for their lives. Today, on the day of Pentecost, they were confronting the crowds in public, boldly proclaiming their faith. Only 10 days earlier they stood with Jesus on the mount of ascension, wondering if he was still going to overthrow the Roman government, then left standing there dazed and confused looking up into the clouds wondering where Jesus had gone. Now, they understood perfectly that Jesus’ kingdom was never of this world, and they were on fire to tell the world about his heavenly kingdom. What happened?
What happened, is that the Holy Spirit came upon them in power, just as Jesus had promised. The Counselor, that Jesus had promised to send seven weeks before, before he died and rose again, when he had that last special conversation Jesus had with his disciples in the upper room before he was betrayed and died. Jesus told the twelve, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” It was the Holy Spirit, poured out in power on Pentecost, who made the disciples bold to speak that day. They believed, therefore they spoke.
I. The Holy Spirit gives us faith and empowers us to speak
Let’s think about that truth for a moment: It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us faith and empowers us to speak. If that’s the case, where was the Holy Spirit before Pentecost? Was there no Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers before Pentecost? And if there was, then what was so special about Pentecost? Of course, the Holy Spirit has always been working in the world. The second verse of the Bible, in the book of Genesis shows the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters, already active in creating and preserving the world. King David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me,” recognizing that it’s the Holy Spirit who gives us a relationship with God. Everyone who believed in Jesus while he walked the earth, the blind man, who called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Thomas who exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” All these people believed in Jesus Christ, because the Holy Spirit had worked faith in their hearts. Scripture says, “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).
So then, if the Holy Spirit was already working in the hearts of believers, why did Jesus promise to send the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, and what was so special about Pentecost? Simply this, my friends: on the day of Pentecost God poured out his Holy Spirit upon the people in a display of power and special gifts, in a way that he had never done before in the history of the world. Yes, the disciples believed before Pentecost, and yes, their faith was a gift from the Holy Spirit, but their faith was young. It was immature. It was not complete. Now, on the day of Pentecost, and in the days of the early Christian church, God confirmed their faith with miraculous signs and powerful miracles. But the Holy Spirit didn’t just strengthen and confirm their faith just for the sake of it. He empowered them to speak and to tell, to testify about Jesus Christ.
Can we say the same thing? We believe, and therefore we speak? Where did your faith come from? It came from the Holy Spirit! It was a gift of God’s life-giving Spirit that brought you and me out of death and darkness and gave us life and light. The Spirit testified to your heart—not through feelings or dreams or visions or instincts—but through the living and powerful word of God. Right here in the Bible is the testimony of God’s Spirit. Right here he speaks to you. He brought you to faith through the word. He has fed your faith through his word. He confirms your faith through his word. But God doesn’t just bring you and me to faith so that we can sit on our hands and say, “Thank you, Lord, I’m saved! Now I’m good to go. Beam me up!” The Lord Jesus Christ has work for you and me to do, and it is for that sole purpose that we are allowed to remain one more day on this earth. After we come to faith, we are privileged to speak about our faith and share our faith. We Believe, Therefore We Speak. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do both. The same Peter who preached on Pentecost wrote to believers everywhere: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). You know the words that Jesus left with his disciples: Go and make disciples! (Matthew 28:19). In our text Jesus says, “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
II. The Holy Spirit gives us the words to speak
So also is Jesus speaking to us in his word today! Have you shared your faith today? Last week? Did you talk to someone about Jesus in the last month? Or two? Or year? Ever? Think about it my friends! Think about it very, carefully. Why are you here on this earth? What’s your purpose in life? If it’s not to be a witness for Christ, what is it? To feather your nest with fluff and stuff? To collect more and more possessions and build more shelf space in your garage? To retire fat and happy and see the world? Think about it very carefully, because the answers to the questions I’m asking you defines who you are as a human being. To come to faith ourselves and trust in Jesus and be saved; to share our faith with friends and family; to instruct our children to walk with Jesus. These are the heart and core of our purpose and our existence as Christians. Everything else is meaningless.
Now, understand what Jesus asks of you. He says, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Jesus says in our text, “You also must testify.” Nowhere does Jesus say, “You will be my lawyers.” It’s not your job to argue or debate with people about Jesus Christ. He doesn’t call you to mix it up with people and get in their face. Jesus doesn’t say, “You will be my salespeople.” You don’t have to sell Jesus. You don’t have to persuade people to sign on the dotted line. You don’t have to close the deal. That’s not your job! He says, “You will be my witnesses.” What do you do as a witness? All you do is tell what you have seen. Tell what Jesus did for you! He rescued you, from the blackest darkness, from a lifetime of emptiness and despair, from an eternity of hell. He rescued you! He died on the cross for you. He washed you clean. If someone wants to tell you that “that’s just what you believe,” and that Christianity is the same as every other religion in the world, then you tell what you have seen. “Jesus rose from the dead to conquer death.” And I am also going to rise.
But someone comes back and says, “I’m afraid I won’t know what to say.” People tell me that all the time. “Pastor,” they say, “I wish you could talk to so and so, because you would know what to say.” Other people don’t want to witness, because the last thing we would want to do is to say something wrong. Do you know what Jesus tells us about that? He says, “Don’t worry about it!” “When you are brought before synagogue, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11,12).
You need never worry about what you’re going to say, but there is one thing that we should be concerned about. That’s if find ourselves feeling ashamed of Jesus. If we’re afraid that someone might laugh at us. If you don’t want to talk about Jesus, because you are afraid that it might make your life difficult. That’s cause for concern. Because Jesus says very, very clearly, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26). If we find ourselves feeling that sharing Jesus is someone else’s job, or if we feel embarrassed or ashamed to be Christians, pray that the Lord would come with his grace, and restore your focus on your relationship with Christ and what it means. Pray for the Spirit to overcome a weak and double-minded heart, so that he can use you for a noble purpose in his kingdom.
You see, friends, We Believe, Therefore We Speak. Speaking and believing go hand in hand. It’s just what Christians do. The faith in our hearts cannot be contained; it has to spill over into our lives and into the lives of the people around us. The growth of God’s kingdom does not come from programs. It’s from people sharing your faith, telling about Jesus, inviting to church. You see, when you’ve got something good, you have to share it. That’s all the Lord is asking us to do: testify to what you yourself have seen and experienced.
Jesus said, “If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). Pray for the Holy Spirit! Pray to God for his Spirit in greater measure! Ask him for a heart that is passionate about Jesus Christ! Ask him to restore your focus and renew your zeal for the One Thing Needful! Ask him for the Holy Spirit in power, power to love, power to share, power to proclaim the one Savior, the one Lord whose blood has cleansed us to be the people of God! May the same Holy Spirit, who fired the hearts of the apostles, set your hearts and my heart on fire to speak boldly in Jesus’ name! Amen.
